Originally Posted by Bop Bop
KP, is the largest of the HMO and is supposedly the role model for many of the HMO's out there.
While HMO's have there place in todays medical world, as far as I am concerned that place is far down the list of choices. I do not want my medical care decided by business people looking at their bottom line, rather than medical issues.
If you can find an affordable Fee for Service Plan go for it, if not a good PPO should do.
The greatest thing KP has is a well-paid publicity department.
Our choices on medicare (for which I am eligible 11/1/2004) are quite limited, but we think we have found a better plan. We did private pay yesterday to meet a PCP, and discussed with him if he can easily attain referrals to cardios and the like. He, and the insurance clerk, said they have no problem with that.
The comprehensive FFS Medicare suplement plans are so prohibitively costly that it is out of our range.
Wish we did have freedom of choice, but it just doesn't happen with medicare, unless you want the very limited coverage under the basic medicare coverage. And, a whole bunch of MD's refuse medicare patients under the basic plan. We still have to pay $329 per month in addition to the medicare contribution, but it does provide full coverage for drugs, therapy, lab, hospitalization, etc.
There is a tremendous choice of MD's, hospitals and specialists under the plan we have chosen.
Many of the cheap medicare supplements do NOT provide good drug coverage, etc., which we need.
Thanks for your input.